Whatever shall appear to be
God's will, I will do."
Four days after this interview the battle of Antietam was fought, and
when, after a few days of uncertainty it was ascertained that it could
be reasonably claimed as a Union victory, the President resolved to
carry out his long-matured purpose. The diary of Secretary Chase has
recorded a very full report of the interesting transaction. On this ever
memorable September 22, 1862, after some playful preliminary talk, Mr.
Lincoln said to his cabinet:
"GENTLEMEN: I have, as you are aware, thought a great deal about the
relation of this war to slavery; and you all remember that, several
weeks ago, I read to you an order I had prepared on this subject, which,
on account of objections made by some of you, was not issued. Ever since
then my mind has been much occupied with this subject, and I have
thought, all along, that the time for acting on it might probably come.
I think the time has come now. I wish it was a better time. I wish that
we were in a better condition. The action of the army against the rebels
has not been quite what I should have best liked. But they have been
driven out of Maryland, and Pennsylvania is no longer in danger of
invasion. When the rebel army was at Frederick, I determined, as soon as
it should be driven out of Maryland, to issue a proclamation of
emancipation, such as I thought most likely to be useful.
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