Before the discussion ceased, however, Secretary Seward made another suggestion:

"Mr. President, I think that you should insert, after the word 'recognize,' the words and maintain.""

"I have fully considered the import of that expres. sion," answered Mr. Lincoln; "but it is not my way to promise more than I am sure I can perform, and I am not prepared to say that I can 'maintain' this."

"Nevertheless that ground should be taken," continued the Secretary. "The dignity of the government and the completeness of the proclamation require it."

After a moment of serious thoughtfulness, the President responded, "You are right, Seward, and the words shall go in."

The proclamation was laid aside until the battle of Antietam was fought. Mr. Lincoln waited until he was satisfied that a valuable victory had been achieved, when he called the Cabinet together again, at a special meeting, and announced :—

"The time has come for emancipation to be declared; it cannot longer be delayed. Public sentiment will now sustain it, many of my warmest friends and supporters demand it, and I promised my God I would do it."

The last sentence was not quite understood by Secretary Chase, who asked for an explanation. Mr. Lincoln replied:

"I made a solemn vow before God, that if General Lee was driven back from Pennsylvania, I would crown the result by the declaration of freedom to the slave."

The Cabinet unanimously endorsed the President's decision, and the proclamation was issued September 22nd, 1862, promising, "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 any designated part of a State, the people whereof

shall then be in rebellion against the United States, shall be then, thenceforward and for ever, free; and the executive government of the United States, including the military and naval authority thereof, will recognize and maintain 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."

This proclamation offended many anti-slavery friends at the North, who wanted the President to strike an immediate and fatal blow at the institution, without warning or conditions. It is believed, however, that subsequent events caused them, and the civilized world, to concur in the President's judgment of the best method, in the circumstances. At the South, the excitement over the proclamation of promised freedom was intense, and the Rebel Congress enacted some violent threats. But the one hundred days of grace passed by, and the memorable first day of January, 1863, arrived, bringing the PROCLAMATION of EMANCIPATION, which deserves the highest place in the temple of American liberty. It merits the careful perusal of every citizen of the United States, old and young, and commends itself to the friends of humanity in every land.

President Lincoln signed the Proclamation after his public reception on January 1st, 1863. Mr. Colfax remarked to him,

"The signature appears somewhat tremulous and uneven."

"Not because of any uncertainty or hesitation on my part," answered the President; "but it was just after the public reception, and three hours' hand-shaking is not calculated to improve a man's chirography. The South had fair warning, that if they did not return to their duty, I should strike at this pillar of their strength,

The promise must now be kept, and I shall never recall one word."

Mr. Carpenter's noble conception of a painting to commemorate the Act of Emancipation enlisted the President's deepest interest. When the work was nearly completed, the artist remarked to him,

"I am very proud to have been the artist to have first conceived the idea of the design of painting a picture commemorative of the Act of Emancipation."

Yes," answered the President," as affairs have turned, it is the central act of my administration, and the great event of the nineteenth century."

When Mr. Carpenter's work was done, and he was about to take leave of the White House, the President said,

"Well, Mr. Carpenter, I must go with you and take one more look at the picture before you leave us."

The parting interview with the artist before the picture was very interesting; and President Lincoln closed it in his familiar way, by saying,

"Mr. Carpenter, I believe that I am about as glad over the success of this work as you are."

This chapter would be incomplete without the Proclamation of Emancipation, which must ever be a memorable document in the future history of our country. We furnish it complete :

"Whereas on the twenty-second day of September, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, a proclamation was issued by the President of the United States, containing, among other things, the following, to wit:

"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, thenceforth, and for ever free; and the

Executive Government of the United States, including the military and naval authorities thereof, will recognize and maintain 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.

"That the Executive will, on the first day of January aforesaid, by proclamation, designate the States and parts of States, if any, in which the people therein respectively shall then be in rebellion against the United States, and the fact that any State, or the people thereof, shall on that day be in good faith represented in the Congress of the United States by members chosen thereto at elections wherein a majority of the qualified voters of such States shall have participated, shall, in the absence of strong countervailing testimony, be deemed conclusive evidence that such State, or the people thereof, are not then in rebellion against the United States.

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Now, therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, by virtue of the power in me vested as Commander-in-chief of the army and navy of the United States in time of actual armed rebellion against the authority and Government of the United States, and as a fit and necessary war measure for suppressing said rebellion, do, on this first day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and in accordance with my purpose so to do, publicly proclaimed for the full period of one hundred days. from the day of the first above-mentioned order, designate as the States and parts of States wherein the people thereof respectively are this day in rebellion against the United States, the following, to wit: Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana, except the parishes of St. Bernard, Plaquemines, Jefferson, St. John, St. Charles, St. James, Ascension, Assumption, Terre Bonne, Lafourche, St. Mary, St. Martin, and Orleans, including the City of New Orleans, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia, except the fortyeight counties designated as West Virginia, and also the counties of Berkeley, Accomac, Northampton, Elizabeth City, York, Princess Ann, and Norfolk, including the cities of

Norfolk and Portsmouth, and which excepted parts are, for the present, left precisely as if this proclamation were not issued.

"And by virtue of the power, and for the purpose aforesaid, I do order and declare that all persons held as slaves within said designated States, and parts of States, are and henceforward shall be free; and that the Executive Government of the United States, including the military and naval authorities thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of such persons.

"And I hereby enjoin upon the people so declared to be free to abstain from all violence, unless in necessary selfdefence; and I recommend to them that in all cases, when allowed, they labour faithfully for reasonable wages.

"And I further declare and make known that such persons of suitable condition will be received into the armed service of the United States, to garrison forts, positions, stations, and other places, and to man vessels of all sorts in said service.

"And upon this, sincerely believed to be an act of justice warranted by the Constitution upon military necessity, I invoke the considerate judgment of mankind, and the gracious favour of Almighty God.

"In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand, and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.

"Done at the City of Washington, this first day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand [L.S.] eight hundred and sixty-three, and of the Independence of the United States of America the eighty-seventh.

"By the President:

ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

"WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State."

Speaker Colfax said of Mr. Lincoln and his proclamation, when the great man died :—

The great act of the mighty chieftain, on which his fame shall rest long after his frame shall moulder away, is that of giving freedom to a race. We have all been taught to revere the sacred characters. Among them