oked. The result
was that I put the draft of the proclamation aside, waiting for a
victory. From time to time I added or changed a line, touching it up
here and there, anxiously waiting the progress of events. Well, the next
news we had was of Pope's disaster at Bull Run. Things looked darker
than ever. Finally, came the week of the battle of Antietam. I
determined to wait no longer.[F] The news came, I think, on Wednesday,
that the advantage was on our side. I was then staying at the Soldiers'
Home (three miles out of Washington). Here I finished writing the second
draft of the preliminary proclamation; came up on Saturday; called the
Cabinet together to hear it; and it was published the following Monday."

Another interesting incident occurred at this Cabinet meeting in
connection with Secretary Seward. The President had written the
important part of the proclamation in these words: "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, thenceforward, and forever FREE; and
the Executive Government of the United States, including the military
and naval authority thereof, will _recognize_ 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." "When I
finished reading this paragraph," remarked Lincoln, "Mr. Seward stopped
me, and said, 'I think, Mr. President, that you should insert after the
word "_recognize_" "_and maintain_."' I replied that I had already fully
considered the import of that expression in this connection, but I had
not introduced it, because it was not my way to promise what I was not
entirely _sure_ that I could perform, and I was not prepared to say that
I thought we were exactly able to maintain this. But Seward insisted
that we ought to take this ground, and the words finally went in."

The special Cabinet meeting to which Lincoln here refers was one of
uncommon interest even in that day of heroic things. An account of it is
given by Secretary Welles, who was present. "At the Cabinet meeting of
September 22," says Mr. Welles in his Diary, "the special subject was
the Proclamation for emancipating the slaves after a certain date, in
States that shall then be in rebellion. For several weeks the su