isunderstand me,
because I have mentioned these objections. They indicate the
difficulties that have thus far prevented my acting in some such way as
you desire. I have not decided against a proclamation of liberty to
the slaves, but hold the matter under advisement. And I can assure you
that the subject is on my mind, by day and night, more than any other.
Whatever shall appear to be God's will, I will do." The language of
this speech, especially when the touch is humorous, seems that of a
strained and slightly irritated man, but the solemnity blended in it
showed Lincoln's true mind.

In this month, September, 1862, he composed for his own reading alone a
sad and inconclusive fragment of meditation which was found after his
death. "The will of God prevails," he wrote. "In great contests each
party claims to act in accordance with the will of God. Both may be
and one must be wrong. God cannot be for and against the same thing at
the same time. In the present civil war it is quite possible that
God's purpose is something different from the purpose of either party,
and yet the human instrumentalities, working just as they do, are of
the best adaptation to effect His purpose. I am almost ready to say
that this is probably true, that God wills this contest, and wills that
it shall not end yet. By His mere great power on the minds of the
contestants, He could have either saved or destroyed the Union without
a human contest. Yet the contest began, and, having begun, He could
give the final victory to either side any day. Yet the contest
proceeds." For Lincoln's own part it seemed his plain duty to do what
in the circumstances he thought safest for the Union, and yet he was
almost of a mind with the deputation which had preached to him, that he
must be doing God's will in taking a great step towards emancipation.
The solution, that the great step must be taken at the first opportune
moment, was doubtless clear enough in principle, but it must always
remain arguable whether any particular moment was opportune. He told
soon afterwards how his mind was finally made up.

On the day that he received the news of the battle of Antietam, the
draft Proclamation was taken from its drawer and studied afresh; his
visit to McClellan on the battlefield intervened; but on the fifth day
after the battle the Cabinet was suddenly called together. When the
Ministers had assembled Lincoln first entertained them by reading the
s