closely, and relied so
confidently upon his own conclusions, that it is not possible to
say when he first seriously entertained the thought of general
emancipation as a war measure. Mr. George S. Boutwell of Massachusetts
who enjoyed Mr. Lincoln's confidence and who at this period of the
contest was appointed Commissioner of Internal Revenue, is authority
for some interesting statements. About the time that the anti-
slavery legislation now under discussion was in progress Mr. Lincoln
received a letter written by a loyal citizen of Louisiana, containing
a strong argument against emancipation. He depicted in vivid colors
the bad results to flow from it and appealed earnestly to the
President not to take so dangerous a step. Without combating in
detail the arguments of his correspondent who personally enjoyed
his confidence, Mr. Lincoln said, "You must not expect me to give
up this government without playing my last card."

During an interview with Mr. Lincoln after the adjournment of
Congress in July, and when military disasters were falling thick
and fast upon us, Mr. Boutwell suggested to the President that we
could not hope to succeed until the slaves were emancipated. To
which Mr. Lincoln answered, "You would not have it done now, would
you? Had we not better wait for something like a victory?" The
statement, widely made in the autumn of 1862, that Mr. Lincoln had
been frightened or driven into the issuing of the proclamation by
the meeting of the governors of the Loyal States at Altoona, had
no foundation in fact. When the President's attention was called
to it, he said, "The truth is, I never thought of the meeting of
the governors at all. When Lee came over the Potomac I made a
resolve that if McClellan drove him back I would send the proclamation
after him. The battle of Antietam was fought Wednesday, but I
could not find out until Saturday whether we had won a victory or
lost a battle. It was then too late to issue it that day, and on
Sunday I fixed it up a little, and on Monday I let them have it."
This colloquial style was characteristic of Mr. Lincoln, and the
frankness with which it was spoken disposes utterly of the claims
made in behalf of Mr. Chase and Mr. Sumner that they contributed
to the text of the Monitory Proclamation of 1862.

Two months before issuing the Proclamation Mr. Lincoln had urgently
requested the senators and representatives of the Border States to
give their effective co