The life and public services of Abraham Lincoln ... together with his state papers, including his speeches, addresses, messages, letters, and proclamations, and the closing scenes connected with his life and death. By Henry J. Raymond. To which are added anecdotes and personal reminiscences of President Lincoln, by Frank B. Carpenter.

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THE LIFE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

entirely overlooked. The result was, that I put the draft of the Proclamation aside, as you do your sketch for a picture, waiting for a victory. From time to time I added or changed a line, touching it up
here and there, waiting the progress of events. Well, the next news
we had was of Pope's disaster, at Bull Run. Things looked darker
than ever. Finally, came the week of the battle of Antietam. I determined to wait no longer. The news came, I think, on Wednesday,
that the advantage was on our side. I was then staying at the ' Soldiers' Home'" (three miles out of Washington). " Here I finished
writing the second draft of the preliminary Proclamation; came up on
Saturday, called the Cabinet together to hear it, and it was published
the following Monday.
" It was a somewhat remarkable fact," he continued, " that there
were just one hundred days between the dates of the two proclamations, issued upon the 22d of September and the 1st of January. I
had not made the calculation at the time."
At the final meeting on Saturday, another interesting incident occurred in connection with Secretary Seward. The President bad written the important part of the Proclamation in these words:"That on the first day of January, in the year of our Lord one
thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, all persons held as slaves
within any State or designated part of a State, the people whereof
shall then be in rebellion against the United States, shall be then,
thenceforward, and forever, FREE; and the Executive Government of
the United States, including the military and naval authority thereof,
will recognize the freedom of such persons, and will do no act or acts
to repress such persons, or any of them, in any efforts they may make
for their actual freedom."-" When I finished reading this paragraph,"
resumed Mr. Lincoln, "Mr. Seward stopped me, and said: ' I think,
Mr. President, that you should insert after the word "recognize," in
that sentence, the words <" and maintain." ' I replied that I had already
fully considered the import of that expression in this connection, but
I had not introduced it, because it was not my way to promise what
I was not entirely sure that I could perform, and I was not prepared
to say that I thought we were exactly able to ' maintain' this."
"But," said he, " Mr. Seward insisted that we ought to take this
ground; and the words finally went in."
Mr. Lincoln then proceeded to show me the various positions occupied by himself and the different members of the cabinet on the
occasion of the first meeting. "As nearly as I remember," said he,