force to enable them to discharge their duties. The commissioned officers of the Freedmen's Bureau in the district were also appointed military commissioners for the several counties under their jurisdiction.

On the same day (June 3d) further instructions were issued for the Boards of Registration. After quoting the provisions of the Reconstruction Act of March 23d, which relate to persons disfranchised, including executive and judicial State officers, the order proceeds:

4. The following will be regarded as executive and judicial officers of the State of Virginia, within the meaning of the law, viz.: Governor, Lieutenant-Governor, Secretary of State, Auditor of Public Accounts, Second Auditor, Registrar of the Land Office, State Treasurer, Attorney-General, Judges of the Supreme Court of Appeals, Judges of the Circuit Courts, Judge of the Court of Hustings, Justices of the County Courts, mayor, recorder, and aldermen of any city or incorporated town, who are ex officio justices, coroners of towns and counties, escheators, inspectors of tobacco, flour, and other commodities.

5. All persons who voluntarily joined the rebel army, and all persons in that army, whether volunteers or conscripts, who committed voluntarily any hostile act, were thereby engaged in insurrection or rebellion. Any person, however, who was forced into the rebel army, but avoided, as far as possible, doing hostile acts, and escaped from that army as soon as possible, cannot be said to have engaged in the rebellion.

6. All who exercised the functions of any office under the Confederate government, or the government of any one of the Confederate States, which functions were of a nature to aid in prosecuting the war, or maintaining the hostile character of those governments, and all who voted for the ordinance of secession, engaged in the rebellion, or gave aid and comfort to the enemy.

7. Those who voluntarily furnished supplies or food, clothing, arms, ammunition, horses or mules, or any other material of war, or labor, or service of any kind, to the Confederate military or naval forces, or money-by loan or otherwise- to the Confederate government, or aided in any way the raising, organization or equipment of troops, gave aid and comfort to the enemy, and participated in the rebellion and civil war against the United States.

8. To give individual soldiers food or clothing enough to relieve present suffering, or to minister to the sick or wounded, are simply acts of charity or humanity, and do not constitute giving "aid or comfort to the enemy." A parent may give his son who belongs to the hostile army food and clothing for his own use; but if he give him a gun, horse, or other thing, to be used for hostile purposes, he thereby gives aid and comfort to the enemy.

9. Whenever, after the examination required by paragraph 12 of the regulations of May 13th, the Board is still in doubt as to the right of the applicant to be registered as a voter, and he is then willing to take the prescribed oath; the Board will give to that oath its full weight, and register the applicant as a

voter.

10. In the lists of those who are "registered after challenge and examination," and those who are "rejected upon challenge," the Board will state in each case what office or offices the person held previous to the late war, and what insurrectionary or rebellious acts he committed, and what kind of aid or comfort he gave to those engaged in insurrection or rebellion. 11. The challengers provided for in paragraph 12 of the Regulations of May 13th will be selected by the Board from the most respectable and intelligent voters of the district or ward, those who have the most extended acquaintance with the people, those who are interested in securing a fair and just registration, and who will be most likely to detect and ex

pose any attempt at fraudulent registration. The challengers may be changed at any time, at the discretion of the Board; they will not be entitled to any

pay for their services.

12. Boards of Registration will adhere strictly to the regulations published for their government, and will spare no pains to secure a just and fair registration according to these instructions. If any who are challenge and examination still believe they are enentered upon the lists as rejected by the Board after titled to vote, and are willing to take the prescribed oath, that oath will be administered (if it has not already been taken by the applicant), and the fact of his having taken the oath will be recorded opposite his name on the register. Much diligence will be required, especially in cities, on the part of members of the Board and challengers, to prevent fraudulent registration of persons who are disqualified from nonresidence, minority, or felony.

13. Registering officers are hereby empowered to administer oaths to witnesses who may be summoned by the Board in any case of contested registration.

The registration will be commenced in every county and city, without unnecessary delay after the receipt of this order.

By command of Brigadier and Brevet Major-General J. M. SCHOFIELD, U. S. A.

S. F. CHALFIN, Assistant Adjutant-General. The following is the clause of the previous order, providing for the challengers mentioned in Section 11 of the above:

Three white and three colored persons, voters of the district, shall be selected by the Board, who shall be allowed to remain with the Board, and who shall have the privilege, and whose duty it shall be, as well as that of each member of the Board, to challenge the right of any person to be registered, who, in the opinion of the person challenging, is disquali fied as a voter by reason of any of the causes set forth in said acts of Congress. Upon such challenge being made, the Board shall examine the person presenting himself for registration, in reference to each cause of disqualification mentioned in said act, and the set supplementary thereto. Evidence shall also be heard, if offered, to substantiate the cause of challenge, or to rebut that offered in support of it.

A week later the following appeared:

RICHMOND, VA., June 10, 1867. The commanding general directs that the registra tion of voters be prosecuted with as much dispatch as may be consistent with a full and fair registration. It is his opinion that not more than six days will be required for the first session of the Board in any dis trict, and not more than one or two days for the se ond session. He desires the whole work to be com pleted, and the revised returns sent to Richmond en or before the last day of July. Very respectfully,

S. F. CHALFIN, Assistant Adjutant-General. After the passage of the Act of Congress of July 19th, an order was issued amending the section of the order of June 3d which desig nated the disfranchised officers of the State. The amended list was:

Governor, Lieutenant-Governor, Secretary of State, Auditor of Public Accounts, Second Auditor, Registrar of the Land Office, State Treasurer, Attorney-Genera sheriff, sergeant of a city or town, commissioner of the revenue, county surveyors, constables, overseers of the poor, commissioners of the board of pub works, Judges of the Supreme Court, Judge of the Court of Hustings, Justices of the County Courts, mayor, recorder, and aldermen of a city or town co poration, escheators, inspectors of tobacco, flour, etc.. clerks of the Supreme Court, District, Circuit, and County Courts, and of the Court of Hustings, and attorneys for the Commonwealth.

The registration went on without interruption, all contested cases being referred to the commanding officer for decision. The first sessions of the Boards of Registration closed on the 15th of September. After the revision had been made, the final result showed a preponderance of white registered voters over the blacks in most of the counties. In a few cases the disparity was very marked-as in Alleghany County there were, whites, 469, blacks, 92; in Bland, 648 to 56; Buchanan, 463 to 5; Carrol, 1,377 to 64; Page, 1,205 to 190; Rockingham, 2,696 to 440; Scott, 1,861 to 110; Shenandoah, 2,168 to 176; Washington, 2,502 to 619; Wise, 653 to 9. On the other hand, in Amelia County there were 1,478 blacks to 477 whites; Brunswick, 1,766 to 810; Charlotte, 2,064 to 900; Dinwiddie, 1,603 to 692; Elizabeth, 1,570 to 352; Halifax, 3,398 to 1,965; Powhatan, 1,178 to 451; York, 1,186 to 411. The total number registered in the State was 221,754, of which 116,982 were whites, and 104,772 col

ored.

"The election order was published on the 12th of September, and appointed October 22d for the taking of the vote on the question of holding a convention, and at the same time for the choice of delegates. The number of delegates apportioned by this order among the various cities and counties of the State was one hundred and five. The apportionment was made on the principle of giving separate representation to the smallest practicable subdivision of the State, and of so combining counties in election districts, in case of surplus fractions in the division, as to represent most accurately the sum of these fractions.

Besides the body of Republicans represented in the convention of April 17th, there was another wing of the party, more conservative in spirit, under the lead of the Hon. J. M. Botts. He had called a convention of the Conservative Union men to meet at Charlottesville on the 4th of July, but at a meeting held on the 12th of June, in which Mr. Botts, Governor Peirpont, and J. W. Hunnicutt, the leader of the Radicals, took part, and at which there were present prominent Republicans from the North, including Senator Wilson, of Massachusetts, and John Jay, of New York, it was agreed to call a convention of all the " unconditional Union men of Virginia," to meet in the African Church at Richmond on the 1st of August, the intention being to secure a coalition of the Botts and Hunnicutt wings of the Republican party. The convention assembled, in accordance with the call, on the 1st of August, but was so overcrowded with negroes under the lead of Hunnicutt, that Mr.

Botts and the body of delegates which he headed took no part. The Radicals, in their somewhat turbulent convention, added nothing to the platform of April 17th, but after their adjournment a mass meeting assembled and was addressed by Mr. Botts, who presented the platform which he had prepared for the

convention. This embodies the following principles:

1. That secession is treason, and treason is not a blunder simply, but a crime, to be punished; and whilst we give up indemnity for the past, we must demand security for the future.

2. That the first allegiance of every citizen is due to his country, and not to his State, which is only a component part of his country.

3. A liberal and enlarged system of education for

all, at the public expense.

and legal rights, without regard to race or color. 4. Impartial suffrage and equality in all political 5. Free thought, free speech, and a free press, without licentiousness or depravity, throughout free America. 6. A recognition and perpetuation of universal liberty, whether heretofore constitutionally accomplished or otherwise.

7. The maintenance of the public faith and credit by the payment of the public debt created for the perpetuation of American liberty, and the repudiation of the Confederate debt, created for our enslavement. 8. To give elevation and respectability to labor, that honest industry in all honorable pursuits may be appreciated and rewarded.

9. A liberal system of internal improvements, for the full development of the resources of the State. 10. General amnesty and restoration to all civil and political rights to the rank and file of the army and to the great body of the people, who were misled and seduced into the war by more artful and wicked men, or who were forced in by conscription or otherwise, but exclusion from all political power hereafter to those who were instrumental, either by speaking, writing, or preaching, in bringing on the war, by which this State was reduced to division, humiliation, penury, and ruin, as unfit custodians of the public honor and general prosperity of the State. This is nothing more and nothing less than they would do with all opposed to them who have committed no crime) if they had the power.

Before the close of the meeting resolutions were adopted indorsing General Sheridan's course, and proposing him as a candidate for the presidency.

On the 25th of September there was a convention of the ex-officers, soldiers, and sailors of the U. S. Army and and Navy residing in Virginia, which met at Richmond and chose General H. H. Wells for its presiding officer. Speeches were made by several delegates, and the following series of resolutions adopted:

Whereas we, the ex-Federal officers, soldiers, and sailors of the Army and Navy of the United States, now residents of the State of Virginia, having fought to preserve the unity of the Government and the principles upon which it was founded, and having successfully overcome all armed opposition to that Government, have assembled here in council, under a full appreciation of the solemn obligation resting upon us, to perform another and much more agreeable service to our Government, viz., to discharge faithfully our duty as citizens. That we recognize and deeply regret the feeling of discord that exists between those who, though lately struggling for a separate government, have now no interests but in common with ourselves. And that we regard an expression of our opinions as a duty we owe, not only to ourselves, but to those with whom many of us have lately associated our fortunes; therefore, be it

Resolved, That we, the ex-Federal soldiers and sailors of the United States Army and Navy, adopt the following resolutions as an expression of our prin

ciples:

Resolved, That we regard a speedy restoration to the Union of those States lately in rebellion as second

only in importance to the recognition of the supremacy of the Government of the United States, and as essential alike to the peace, prosperity, and happiness of all classes.

Resolved, That we recognize the fact that with Congress alone rests the power to restore these States to the Union, and that restoration can only take place under the Reconstruction Acts of Congress, and pledge ourselves to honestly and faithfully carry out the provisions of those Acts in restoring Virginia to her position in the Union.

Resolved, That no republican form of government can permanently exist without a full recognition of the principle of political equality for all men, without distinction of race or color. That the ballot is the best protection a freeman can have for the security of his rights. And that we pledge ourselves to the support of such measures as will secure to all men, of whatever race or color, or previous condition, the ballot and equal political rights.

Resolved, That no republican form of government can be wisely administered without a general education of the people, and that we are in favor of the system of free schools supported by all and open to all.

Resolved, That we regard the present system of taxation as partial, and especially burdensome to the laboring man, and that we are in favor of a more general and equal distribution of its burdens upon all classes who enjoy the blessings and protection offered by the civil government it maintains.

Resolved, That we have great hope in the future of Virginia; that with her agricultural and mineral resources, and her facilities for manufacture, and with that change in her industrial system which now renders labor an honorable instead of a menial service, which will cordially invite and must bring to our State its legitimate share of immigration, without which it will for many years be impossible to develop those resources, we may hope to see Virginia take her place alongside of Ohio and Pennsylvania and Massachusetts in her agricultural, her mineral, and her manufacturing products.

Resolved, That we have unabated confidence in that great Union organization which, when danger threatened our common country, stood by and for the maintenance of its Government, and still seek a harmonious restoration of all States to the Union by guaranteeing to all its citizens that principle embodied in the Declaration of Independence that all men are created free and equal and endowed with certain inalienable rights and privileges, among which' are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

Through the summer General Schofield found little occasion to exercise the military powers vested in him by the Reconstruction Acts, beyond what was necessary to carry into execution the provisions for holding a convention to frame a new constitution. It had been his policy indeed not to relieve the civil magistrates in any degree from the responsibility of a faithful discharge of their duties, but rather to encourage their confidence and support. The Act of Congress of July 19th, however, prescribed as a qualification for office the oath required of officers of the United States, a test which in many parts of the State would exclude from the civil offices the only persons competent to fill them. Accordingly, the order suspending elections was continued in force, and the following provisions were announced by a general order, under date of July 26th:

1. In pursuance of Section 4 of the Act of Congress passed July 19, 1867, the sub-district commanders will report to these headquarters, for the action

of the commanding general, the cases of all the State, county, and municipal officers who are disloyal to the Government of the United States, or who may use their official influence in any manner to hinder, delay, prevent, or obstruct the due and proper administration of the Acts of Congress.

2. Hereafter, until otherwise ordered, all vacancies that may occur in State, county, or municipal offices will be filled by temporary appointments, to be made by the commanding general.

3. The Governor and other executive officers, the courts of law, and councils of cities, are invited to recommend suitable persons for appointment to such offices as under the existing laws of Virginia are usually filled by their appointment or upon their nomination.

4. Recommendations from the State courts and from the heads of the executive departments of the State government will be sent to the Governor for his indorsement. Those from any other source will be forwarded by the military commissioner, and subdistrict commanders, with their indorsement there

on.

Under this order several officers were removed, and the vacancies otherwise occasioned were filled by appointment. Among the appoint ments made was one of a judge of the Hustings Court in the city of Richmond to succeed Judge Lyons, deceased. The appointee of General Scho field had been until that time a member of his staff.

The military commissioners, which had been appointed under the order of May 28th, exercised the authority vested in them very spar ingly, and only in cases of necessity. The following additional instructions to these officers are found in an order dated August 12th:

Military commissioners are reminded that they are to be governed in the discharge of their duties by the laws of Virginia, as far as the same are not is conflict with the laws of the United States or orders issued from these headquarters, and that they are not to supersede the civil authorities except in cases of necessity. In such cases the action or failure to act of the civil officers should be fully reported, in order that the commanding general may hold them to s proper accountability for any neglect of duty.

General Schofield's reasons for establishing these military commissions, in the first in stance, are thus stated in a report to General Grant of various operations in the First Military District:

The evil which existed previous to the passage of the Act of March 2, 1867, was not removed, though somewhat mitigated by the increased efficiency the magistrates and other civil officers. That eril was inherent in our venerable jury system, and ap parent in all times, and fully developed by the natural antagonism between loyalist and rebel, or the prejudice between white and black, existing through appropriate remedy, demanded my early and must out the South since the rebellion. This evil, and its careful consideration. One of the first and most natural propositions was to remodel the jury syste of the State so as to admit blacks as well as whites to stringent, as to past and present loyalty. But, after the jury-box; also to prescribe a test, more or less full consideration, I became satisfied that any system of organization of juries, under laws which required a unanimous verdict to convict, or to decide any civil cause, must afford very inadequate protection for lif class or caste exists. This consideration, added to and property in a society where strong prejudice a the fact that any system established by military authority would be but temporary in its character,

determined me to leave the remodelling of the jury system to the State convention, ere long to assemble, and to be content for the present with the temporary system of military commissioners authorized by the Act of Congress.

The election occurred on the 22d of October, without any serious disturbance. The Radicals had been active during the campaign which preceded the election, and the Conservatives as a general rule took an earnest part, with a view of exerting all the influence to which they were entitled, under the law, on the question of restoring the State to the Union on the terms proposed by the Federal Congress. The result was that 169,229 votes were cast on the question of holding a convention, of which 76,084 were those of white citizens, and 93,155 of blacks. For the convention 14,835 whites and 92,507 blacks voted; against the convention, 61,249 whites and 638 blacks. Whole number in favor of convention 107,342, whole number against it 61,887; majority 45,455 in favor. Of the 105 delegates chosen 80 were whites and 25 colored men; 70 were Republicans and

35 Conservatives.

After the election a few persons were tried by military commission for illegal interference to prevent voting, and some irregularities were rectified by the commanding general. In one or two cases new elections were ordered. On the 25th of November James W. Hunnicutt was arrested by the civil authorities, on an indictment found against him for incendiary language used in a political harangue on the 27th of September, at Elam Church, in the County of Charles City. He was charged in the indictment with conspiring "with divers other persons" to incite the colored population of the State to rise in insurrection against the whites. The following are among the words attributed to Mr. Hunnicutt on the occasion of the offence: "You, the colored people, have no property. The white race have houses and lands. Some of you are old and feeble and cannot carry the musket, but can apply the torch to the dwellings of your enemies. There are none too young-the boy of ten and the girl of twelve can apply the torch." Mr. Hunnicutt, who was one of the delegates elected to take part in the Constitutional Convention, was bailed by the military commission to appear at the Charles City County Court ten days after the adjournment of the convention.

General Schofield's order was issued on the 2d of November, designating the time and place of meeting of the Reconstruction Convention. The delegates were directed to assemble at ten o'clock A. M. on the 3d of December, in the hall of the House of Delegates, in the city of Richmond.

The convention met on the 3d of December, and placed Hon. John C. Underwood at its head as permanent presiding officer. Some days were occupied in choosing the various committees and settling the financial interests of the members, and the body adjourned on

the 20th, to meet January 2, 1868. No reports had at that time been made upon the provisions of the future constitution. Among the resolutions referred were several looking to the security of equal rights for colored citizens. One of these proposed to provide in the organic law of the State that negroes should be allowed equal privileges with whites in railroad cars, steamboats, etc.

A convention of the Conservatives of the State assembled in Richmond on the 12th of December, and unanimously adopted the following resolutions:

1. This convention doth recognize that by the results of the late war slavery has been abolished; and it doth declare that it is not the purpose or desire of the people of Virginia to reduce or subject again to slavery the people emancipated by the events of the United States. war and by the amendment to the Constitution of the

2. This convention doth declare that Virginia of right should be restored to her Federal relations with the Government of the United States; and that it is not in the contemplation of the people of Virginia to violate or impair her obligations to the Federal Union, but to perform them in good faith.

3. This convention doth solemnly declare and assert that the people of Virginia are entitled to all the rights of freedom, and all the guarantees therefor, provided by the Constitution of the United States and they insist on the same as unquestionable; and that the said Constitution, which all are sworn to support, does not justify the governing of Virginia by any power not delegated by it, nor ought she, under it, to be controlled by the Federal Government, except in strict accordance with its terms and limita

tions.

4. This convention doth declare, in the language of a resolution adopted by a public meeting held at the Cooper Institute, in the city of New York: "That the policy which continues to subject the peoernment, carried on by military power, is inconsistple of ten States of the Union to an irresponsible govent with the express promises of the Constitution of the United States, and is subversive of the fundamental ideas of our Government and of civil liberty; and the object for which this great wrong has been persisted in, as now being disclosed to the people of this country and to the world-to wit, to subject the white people of these States to the absolute supremacy, in their local governments and in their representation in the Senate and House of Representatives, of the black race just emerged from personal servitude-is abhorrent to the civilization of mankind, and involves us and the people of the Northern States in the consequences of surrendering one-third of the Senate and one-quarter of the House of Representatives, which are to legislate over us, to the dominion of an organized class of emancipated slaves, who are without any of the training, habits, or traditions of self-government."

5. This convention, for the people of Virginia, doth declare that they disclaim all hostility to the black population; that they sincerely desire to see them advance in intelligence and material prosperity, and are willing to extend to them a liberal and gener ous protection. But that while, in the opinion of this convention, any constitution of Virginia ought to make all men equal before the law, and should protect the liberty and property of all, yet this convention doth distinctly declare that the governments of the States and of the Union were formed by white men to be subject to their control; and that suffrage should still be so regulated by the States as to con tinue the Federal and State systems under the control and direction of the white race

6. That in the opinion of this convention the peo

WALDECK, a principality belonging to the North-German Confederation. Prince, Georg, born January 14, 1831; succeeded his father, May 15, 1845. Area, 466 square miles. Population, in 1864, 59,143. Contingent to the army of the Old German Confederation, 866 men. The revenue, in the budget for 1867, is estimated at 523,612, and the expenditures at 521,201 thalers. Public debt, in 1861, 1,500,000. The Diet of Waldeck, on October 22, 1867, approved a treaty concluded on July 17th, by the Prince with Prussia, in virtue of which the administration of the principality was, on January 1st, 1868, to be transferred to

Prussia.

WALWORTH, REUBEN HYDE, LL. D., born at Bozrah, Ct., October 26, 1789; died at Saratoga, November 28, 1867. Soon after his birth his parents removed to Rensselaer County, N. Y., and engaged in farming, and he spent his summers in assisting his father in the labors of the field, and devoted the winters to acquiring a common school education. At the age of seventeen he commenced the study of law, and after three years was admitted to the bar in the village of Plattsburg. Here he pursued his profession with success until he was elevated to the bench. In 1811 he was appointed a master in chancery, and one of the county judges. He was an officer of volunteers in the War of 1812, and at the siege of Plattsburg in 1814 was acting adjutant-general of the United States forces, and participated in the battles of Beekmanstown and Pike's Cantonment. He was a member of the Seventeenth Congress from 1821 to 1823, but declined a reelection, and was appointed a circuit judge in the latter year. He was appointed chancellor, the highest judicial office in the State, in 1828, and held the

the indebtedness of the Commonwealth at present unprovided for is $21,691,579.84. The last Legislature provided for the payment of interest on this debt at the rate of four per cent. per annum, so that the annual interest will amount to $867,663.16. This, with the sum necessary for the operation of the govern ment according to the estimate of the auditor, will make the annual liabilities $1,367,663.16, while the same officer estimates the annual revenue at $2,000,000, giving a liberal surplus to be applied to sinking the principal of the State debt. After the reduction of the debt of 1861 by the means proposed, the State will still hold property in other railroads and canals to the amount of upward of $16,667,580.

he was a member ex-officio, are contained in Wendell's Reports, 26 volumes; Hill's, 7 volumes, and Denio's, 5 volumes. After his retirement from the chancellorship, Mr. Walworth occupied himself with the investigation of such legal questions as were referred to him, and as an advising attorney. He no longer mingled in politics, being always, however, an extreme conservative, and in these latter years opposed to coercion as a means of preserving the Union. His legal publications are voluminous and im portant, and his connection with the bar as advising counsel, after his retirement from the bench, was conspicuous and influential. Mr. Walworth was a conscientious and active Christian, being for more than thirty years in energetic and active connection with several religious and benevolent associations. He was for years president of the State Temperance Society, and of the American Tract and Bible Societies, as well as a member of the Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions. His personal character was one of great integrity and nobleness of disposition. Beloved in private life, and publicly honored, he died after many years of usefulness, and will be long remem bered as one of New York's worthiest sons.

WARD, General AARON, a prominent lawyer, politician, member of Congress, and military man of Westchester County, N. Y.; born at Sing Sing, Westchester County, N. Y., about 1780; died at Georgetown, D. C., February 27, 1967. He was educated at Mount Pleasant Academy, and studied law at Sing Sing, where he was admitted to the Westchester County bar. The events which culminated in the War of 1812 turued his attention to military studies, and he joined the regular army, and in 1819 was promoted to a captaincy. After the close