g of the Emancipation Proclamation": "It had got to be
mid-summer, 1862. Things had gone on from bad to worse, until I felt
that we had reached the end of our rope on the plan we had been
pursuing; that we had about played our last card, and must change our
tactics or lose the game. I now determined upon the adoption of the
emancipation policy; and without consultation with, or the knowledge of,
the Cabinet, I prepared the original draft of the proclamation, and
after much anxious thought, called a Cabinet meeting upon the
subject.... I said to the Cabinet that I had resolved upon this step,
and had not called them together to ask their advice, but to lay the
subject-matter of a proclamation before them, suggestions as to which
would be in order after they had heard it read." This proclamation--the
first sketch--set forth that at the next meeting of Congress, four
months later, the President designs to again recommend a practical
measure for tendering pecuniary aid to any State then recognizing the
authority of the United States, which should have adopted, or should
thereafter adopt, gradual abolishment of slavery; that the object of
this is to promote the restoration of constitutional relations between
the general government and all the States; and finally, as
commander-in-chief, the President declares that from the first of
January next all slaves in States still rejecting the national authority
shall then and forever be free.

The Cabinet were amazed--and divided. Only Stanton and Bates were for
immediate promulgation. Chase thought it would be better to leave the
matter to district commanders, but would support the proclamation as
better than inaction. Blair opposed it as likely to be unpopular and
lose the Fall election. All this Lincoln had weighed beforehand. But now
came a suggestion from Seward, that the immediate time was inopportune,
because just after military reverses (McClellan's Peninsula defeat) it
would seem like a desperate cry for help,--"our last shriek on the
retreat," as Lincoln phrased it. His judgment welcomed this as a wise
suggestion, and he put the draft of the proclamation aside and waited
for victory. Among the elements which entered into his decisions was a
subtle instinct as to when and how far he could command the support of
the various elements on whom success depended. His rare capacity as a
listener, and his keen sagacity, enabled him to divine that the hour was
at hand when a decisive