justice seemed to have no effect upon him. He did not hesitate to delay the payment of a just claim in order that the appropriation might be kept within the limits that he had fixed. This, not on the ground that the claim ought not be paid, but for the reason that the payment at the time would disarrange the balance sheet. A striking instance of his policy was exhibited in his treatment of the land-owners whose lands were condemned and taken for the reservoir at the end of Seventh Street, Washington, D. C. The values were fixed by a commission and by juries under the law, and when the time for an appropriation came, Mr. Randall provided for fifty per cent. and carried the remainder over to the next year. The claimants were entitled to full payment, but one half was withheld for twelve months without interest and that while dead funds were lying in the Treasury.

XXIX INCIDENTS IN THE CIVIL WAR

THE PROCLAMATION OF EMANCIPATION

When the Proclamation of Emancipation, of January 1, 1863, was issued, the closing sentence attracted universal attention, and in every part of the world encomiums were pronounced upon it. The words are these: "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." Following the appearance of the Proclamation, and stimulated, possibly, by the reception given to the sentence quoted, there appeared claimants for the verbal authorship of the passage, or for suggestions which led to its writing by Mr. Lincoln.

A claim for exact authorship was set up for Mr. Chase, and claims for suggestions in the nature of exact authorship were made in behalf of Mr. Seward and in behalf of Mr. Sumner.

The sentence quoted was furnished by Mr. Chase, after a very material alteration by the President. He introduced the words, "warranted by the Constitution upon military necessity," in place of the phrase, "and of duty demanded by the circumstances of the country," as written by Mr. Chase.

The main credit for the introduction of the fortunate phrase is due to Secretary Chase. President Lincoln placed the act upon a legal basis, justifying it in law and in history. The sentence is what we might have expected from the head and heart of the man who wrote the final sentence of the first inaugural address: "The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone, all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature." Mr. Lincoln had genius for the work of composition, and the poetic quality was strong and it was often exhibited in his speeches and writings. The omission of the sentence in question would so mar the Proclamation that it would cease to represent Mr. Lincoln. Thus he became under great obligations to Mr. Chase.

It was not in the nature of Mr. Lincoln to close a state paper, which he could not but have realized was to take a place by the side of the Declaration of Independence, with a bald statement that the freedmen would be received "into the armed service of the United States to garrison forts, positions, stations, and other places, and to man vessels of all sorts in said service."

In the month of October, 1863, the ladies of Chicago made a request of Mr. Lincoln for "the original" of his "proclamation of freedom," the same to be disposed of "for the benefit of the soldiers." The letter in their behalf was written by Mr. Arnold, who was then a member of Congress. Improvidently, I think we may say, Mr. Lincoln yielded to their request for the original draft of the Proclamation to be sold for the benefit of the fair. Its transmission was accompanied by a letter, written by Mr. Lincoln.

"EXECUTIVE MANSION, "WASHINGTON, "October 26, 1863.

"Ladies having in charge The North Western Fair for the Sanitary Commission, Chicago, Ill.

"According to the request made in your behalf, the original draft of the Emancipation Proclamation is herewith enclosed. The formal words at the top and at the conclusion, except the signature, you perceive, are not in my handwriting. They were written at the State Department, by whom I know not. The printed part was cut from a copy of the preliminary Proclamation and pasted on merely to save writing.

"I have some desire to retain the paper, but if it shall contribute to the relief of the soldiers, that would be better.

"Your obt. servt.,
"A. LINCOLN."

In technical strictness the original Proclamation was of the archives of the Department of State when the signature of the President and Secretary of State had been affixed thereto, and its transfer by Mr. Lincoln was an act not within his competency as President, or as the author of the Proclamation.

This point, however, is wholly speculative, but the country and posterity will be interested in the fate of the original of a document which is as immortal as the Declaration of Independence. The Proclamation was sold to the Honorable Thomas B. Bryan of Chicago for the sum of three thousand dollars and it was then presented by him to the Soldiers' Home of Chicago, of which he was then President. That position he still retains. The document was deposited in the rooms of the Chicago Historical Society, where it was destroyed in the great fire of 1871.

Fortunately the managers of the fair had secured the preparation of fac simile copies of the Proclamation. These were sold in large numbers, and thus many thousands of dollars were added to the receipts of the fair.

The managers of the Soldiers' Home were offered twenty-five thousand dollars for the original Proclamation.* The offer came from a showman who expected to reimburse himself by the exhibition of the paper.

The original now on the files of the State Department is not in the handwriting of Mr. Lincoln and it has therefore no value derived from Mr. Lincoln's personality.

When I entered upon this inquiry, which has resulted in the preparation of this paper, I was ignorant of the fact that the original Proclamation had been destroyed, and it was my purpose to secure its return to the archives of the Department of State. That is now impossible. Its destruction has given value to the fac simile copies. Many thousands of them are in the possession of citizens of the United States, and they will be preserved and transmitted as souvenirs of the greatest act of the most illustrious American of this century.

In the early autumn of 1864 a meeting was held in Faneuil Hall in honor of the capture of Atlanta by the army under General Sherman, and the battle in Mobile Bay under the lead of Admiral Farragut. Strange as the fact may now appear, those historical events were not accepted with satisfaction by all the citizens of Boston. The leading Democratic papers gave that kind of advice that may be found, usually, in the columns of hostile journals, when passing events are unfriendly, or when there is an adverse trend of public opinion. Hard words should not be used and nothing should be said of a partisan character. Such was the advice, and a large body of men assembled who were opposed to partisan speeches. They were known as the McClellan Club of the North End of Boston and they were sufficient in numbers, when standing, to fill the main floor in front of the rostrum, which at that time was not provided with seats. The meeting was called by Republicans and it was conducted under the auspices of Republicans. Governor Andrew was to preside and Governor