Charles City intelligencer. [volume] (Charles City, Floyd County, Iowa) 1864-1866, 1865-07-06
dbe ynttlligtnttr.
Charles City, Iowa, July 6, 1866.
The Emancipation Proclamation.

INTERESTING Xsfch oF Ts HEToRY ~ TIE ARrT, CARPESTE
Mr. r. b. Carpenter, the web know
artist, contributed to the Independent
sketch of the history of the Emancip,
ton Proclamation, as given to him b.
Mr.. Lincoln himself, while he wa
painting the picture illustrative of it
consideration BY the Cabinet. Nj
Carpenter quotes passage from Nj,
Lincoln's letter to Colonel Hodges, O
Kentucky, and says: ...t ..
now take up the history of In
Proclamation itself, as Mr.. Lincolu
gave it to me, on the occasion Of on
first Interview. and written down by
myself soon afterward
I" II had got TO be-" said he, enid
summer, 1862. Things had gone o,
from bad to worse until I felt that W,
had reached the end of our rope OF
the plan Of operations we had beer
pursuing /; that We had about played
our last card. and must change oul
tactics, or lose the game l now de
terminel upon the adoption of the
emancipation policy and, withou,
consultation with, or the knowledge
Of the Cabinet. I prepared the origi
nal draft of the proclamation, and af
ter much anxious thought, called a
Cabinet meeting upon the snbiect
This was the last of July, or the first
part of the month of August, 1862
(The exact date he did not remember. J
"This Cabinet meeting took place, ]
think, upon q Saturday. All were
present, excepting Mr. Blair, the Post
master General, who was absent a,
the opening Of the discussion, but
came in subsequently. l said to the
Cabinet that | had resolved npon this
step, and had not called them togeth
er tn ask their advice, but TO lay the
subject matter Of a proclamation be-
fore them suggestions as to which
would be in order after they had heard
it read. Mr.. Lovejoy" said he, "was
in error when he informed you tina,
it excited no comment. excepting on
the part of Secretary Seward. Vari
ous suggestions were offered. Secre
tary Chase wished the language
stronger in reference to the arming oi
the blacks. Mr.. Blair. after he came
in. deprecated the policy. on the
ground that it would cost the Admin
istration the fall elections. Nothing.
however, was offered that l had not
already fully anticipated and settled
in my own mind, until Secretary Sc.
ward spoke. Said he: Mr.. Presi,
dent. l approve of the proclamation
but | question the cxpediency of its
issue at this Juncture. The deprcss
ion of tho public mind. consequent up
on our repeated reverses is SO great
that fear The effect of SO important a
step. 1t may be viewed as the last
measure Of an exhausted Government
"a cry for help; the Government
stretching forth its hands to Ethiopia
instead of Ethiopia stretching forth
her hands to the Government His
idea," said the President, was that
it would be considered our last shrisk
on the retreat" (This was his pre-
else expression.) Now continu
ed Mr.. Seward, "while approve the
measure, suggest, sir, that you post
pone its issue. until you can give it Il
the country supported by military
success instead of issuing it, as woulC
be the case now, upon the greatest
disasters of the war!' Said Mr.
Lincoln, "The wisdom Of the views
Of the Secretary Of State struck m.
with very great force. 1t was an as
pect Of Inc case that, in all ny
thoughts upon the subject, l had en-
tirely overlooked. The result wal
that l pu: the draft of the proclama
tion aside, as yon do your sketch fo
a picture, waiting for . victory
From time to time l added or changet
a line, touching it up here and there
waiting the progress Of events. Well
the next news we had was Of Pope
disaster at Bull Run. Things locke,
darker than ever. Finally, came tn,
week Of the battle Of Antietam. l dc
termined to wait no longer. Til,
news came, ! think, on Wednesday
that the advantage was on our side
| was then staying at the Soldier
Home (three miles out Of Washing
tony Here l finished writing the sec
ond draft of the preliminary proclamn
tion /; came up ON Saturday, callet
the Cabinet together to hear 1t, and j
was published, The followir sn Monday
1t was q some what Remarkable
fact" he continued, that there wa
just one hundred days between th,
dates of the proclamations. issued up
on the 22d Of September aud the Is
Of January. l had not made the cal
culation at the time. E =
At the final meeting on Saturday
another interesting incident occurre'
in connection with Secretary Seward
The President had written the impol
tant part of the proclamation in thes
words: atl"
"That OF The lst day Of Janury, !,
tho year Of our Lord one thousan'
eight hundred and sixty.three. all pc,
sons held a. slaves within any Stat
or designated part Of State, the pee
pie whereof shall then DO in rebellio
agaia.. the United States, includinI
the military and naval authority there
Of, will recognize the freedom Of sue
persons, and will do no act or acts t
rcprcss such persons or any Of ther
in any efforts they may make for thei
actual freedom. When had finishc
reading this paragraph resumed MI
Lincoln, "Mr. Seward stopped M
and said: Il think, Mr.. Presiden
that. you should insert after the wor
recognize" in that sentence, th
! ~yorIo ouJ ,.a;,fa,ot ror'1soI that