to be an act of justice,
warranted by the Constitution, upon military necessity, I invoke
the considerate judgment of mankind and the gracious favor of
Almighty God.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my name, and caused the
seal of the United States to be affixed.

Done at the City of Washington, this first day of January, in
the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three,
and of the independence of the United States the eighty-seventh.

_By the President_: ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State.

It is stated that Lincoln gave the most earnest study to the composition
of the Emancipation Proclamation. He realized, as he afterwards said,
that the proclamation was the central act of his administration and the
great event of the nineteenth century. When the document was completed a
printed copy of it was placed in the hands of each member of the
Cabinet, and criticisms and suggestions were invited. Mr. Chase
remarked: "This paper is of the utmost importance, greater than any
state paper ever made by this Government. A paper of so much importance,
and involving the liberties of so many people, ought, I think, to make
some reference to Deity. I do not observe anything of the kind in it."
Lincoln said: "No, I overlooked it. Some reference to Deity must be
inserted. Mr. Chase, won't you make a draft of what you think ought to
be inserted?" Mr. Chase promised to do so, and at the next meeting
presented the following: "And upon this act, sincerely believed to be an
act of justice, warranted by the Constitution, upon military necessity,
I invoke the considerate judgment of mankind and the gracious favor of
Almighty God." When Lincoln read the paragraph, Mr. Chase said: "You may
not approve it, but I thought this, or something like it, would be
appropriate." Lincoln replied: "I do approve it; it cannot be bettered,
and I will adopt it in the very words you have written."

To a large concourse of people who, two days after the proclamation was
issued, assembled before the White House, with music, the President
said: "What I did, I did after a very full deliberation, and under a
heavy and solemn sense of responsibility. I can only trust in God I have
made no mistake." That he realized to the full the gravity of the step
before taking it is shown again in an incident related by Hon. John
Covode, who, calling on the President a few days