gravity,
importance, and delicacy of the movement; said he had given it much
thought, and had about come to the conclusion that it was a military
necessity absolutely essential for the salvation of the Union; that we
must free the slaves or be ourselves subdued, etc.... This was, the
President said, the first occasion when he had mentioned the subject to
anyone, and wished us to frankly state how the proposition struck us.
Mr. Seward said the subject involved consequences so vast and momentous
that he should wish to bestow on it mature reflection before giving a
decisive answer; but his present opinion inclined to the measure as
justifiable, and perhaps he might say expedient and necessary. These
were also my views. Two or three times on that ride the subject, which
was of course an absorbing one for each and all, was adverted to; and
before separating, the President desired us to give the question special
and deliberate attention, for he was earnest in the conviction that
something must be done. It was a new departure for the President, for
until this time, in all our previous interviews, whenever the question
of emancipation or the mitigation of slavery had been in any way alluded
to, he had been prompt and emphatic in denouncing any interference by
the General Government with the subject. This was, I think, the
sentiment of every member of the Cabinet, all of whom, including the
President, considered it a local, domestic question, appertaining to the
States respectively, who had never parted with their authority over it.
But the reverses before Richmond, and the formidable power and
dimensions of the insurrection, which extended through all the Slave
States, and had combined most of them in a confederacy to destroy the
Union, impelled the Administration to adopt extraordinary measures to
preserve the national existence. The slaves, if not armed and
disciplined, were in the service of those who were, not only as field
laborers and producers, but thousands of them were in attendance upon
the armies in the field, employed as waiters and teamsters, and the
fortifications and intrenchments were constructed by them."

It has been shown again and again, by the words of Lincoln and by the
testimony of his friends, that he heartily detested the practice of
slavery, and would joyfully have set every bondman free. Before his
nomination for the Presidency--indeed, from the very beginning of his
public life--he had repeatedly put