Mr. Johnson retained Lincoln's Cabinet, and among them the conciliatory and persuasive Seward, who, in about six weeks from the night of the assassination, at which time he himself was seriously wounded, returned to his work in the State Department. There is no doubt that it was the influence of Seward which modified the views and purposes of Mr. Johnson. The compliant spirit manifested at this time by the Confederate chiefs helped strongly in the same direction. By the 1st of June, Seward had won Johnson completely for his plan of a rapid and forgiving reconstruction by the Executive. Congress was not in session, and the President was not inclined to call an extra session. The late rebel chieftains were pressing for the political rehabilitation of their section, and the President now fully believed that he had the power to proceed with the problem of Reconstruction, and was inclined to do so. {33} [Sidenote: Johnson's Amnesty Proclamation of May 29, 1865.] On the 29th of May, he issued his proclamation of amnesty and pardon to all persons who, having engaged in rebellion, had failed to take the benefits of Mr. Lincoln's proclamations of December 8, 1863, and March 26, 1864. To all such persons Mr. Johnson offered his pardon upon their taking an oath of the following tenor: "I ---- do solemnly swear (or affirm) in the presence of Almighty God, that I will henceforth faithfully support, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States and the Union of the States thereunder, and that I will in like manner abide by and faithfully support all laws and proclamations which have been made during the existing rebellion with reference to the emancipation of slaves. So help me God." [Sidenote: The excepted classes.] He, however, excepted the following classes of persons from the benefits of the offer: 1st. Those who held or had held, under the pretended Confederate Government, civil or diplomatic office or agency, or military office above the rank of colonel in the army and lieutenant in the navy, or military or naval office of any grade, if educated by the United States Government in the Military Academy at West Point or the United States Naval Academy; and all those who held, or had held, the pretended office of Governor of a "State" in insurrection against the United States; 2d. Those who had left seats in the Congress of the United States or judicial stations under the United States to aid in the rebellion against the United States, and those who had resigned or tendered resignations of their commissions in the army or navy of the United States to evade duty in resisting the rebellion; 3d. Those who had, in any way, treated persons found in the service of the United States, in any capacity, otherwise than lawfully as prisoners of war;